The entrance to Silent Gorge yawned before them like a jagged scar carved into the earth.
Sheer cliffs rose skyward on both sides, their dark, craggy faces casting oppressive shadows that swallowed the light.
The wind here no longer whistled—it wept, a hollow, ghostly sound that slithered between the stone walls like invisible spirits whispering in the dark.
It was a cruel irony that this place was called Silent Gorge.
The moment they stepped inside, the light dimmed, as though the world itself had drawn a shroud over them.
The air turned cold and damp, clinging to their skin. The ground beneath their boots was no longer soft grass but a rough, uneven mix of gravel and dry moss.
"The change in the environment is obvious," Lina murmured, her crimson eyes sharp as they swept across the shadows along the cliff faces and the narrow strip of sky overhead.
"Perfect for an ambush."
"Yeah." Kiriya's reply was brief, but his senses were equally sharpened.
After the roaring chaos of the arena and their frantic "escape" earlier, the killing stillness of the gorge almost felt… calming.
His mind slid easily back into the familiar rhythm of adventure.
They hadn't gone far when a patch of shadow on the left wall shifted.
"They're here!" Lina's warning came at the exact same moment. Her shield came up with practiced ease, a thin sheen of frost blooming across its surface in an instant.
[Wind claw Panther]
[Level: 25]
[HP: 8500 / 8500]
[Skills: Rending Pounce (rapid lunge, applies Bleed), Shadow Recoil (leaps back at low HP, re-engages from stealth)]
The shadow shot out like an arrow from a bow—revealing a lithe, gray-and-black-spotted Wind claw Panther! Its claws sliced through the air with a hiss, aimed straight for Lina's face.
BANG!
Claws slammed against the frost-coated shield with a dull, heavy impact.
Lina stood her ground like a rock, not even budging half a step. [Guardian's Oath] had flawlessly blocked the ambush.
-345 (Blocked)
"Marked," Lina said evenly. Her sword darted forward in a precise thrust, stabbing into the panther's foreleg joint.
The damage was small, but it was enough to draw the monster's full aggro.
Kiriya was already moving.
"Phantom Thrust!"
Instead of summoning a clone, he became the phantom himself—his body blurring into a streak of shadow as he struck from the panther's blind spot.
The blade pierced cleanly into its exposed flank.
-1580!
The Wind claw Panther shrieked in pain, twisting to counterattack—but Lina's shield crashed into its skull with bone-rattling force, stunning it mid-motion.
"Finish it."
Kiriya didn't need to be told twice. His sword flashed three times in a deadly rhythm.
-1750, -1710, -1680.
The beast collapsed, dissolving into motes of light, leaving behind a few copper coins.
"Good coordination," Lina said as she sheathed her sword and shield, a hint of satisfaction in her tone. "The new shield blocks beautifully."
"You held aggro perfectly." Kiriya nodded his approval. The clean efficiency of their teamwork was… comforting. Together, they pressed deeper into the gorge.
The monsters here were mostly Wind claw Panthers and strange, floating air-elementals called Gorge Howlers—twisted masses of wind that hurled concussive blasts from afar.
[Gorge Howler]
[Level: 26]
[HP: 9800 / 9800]
[Skills: Wind Pressure Bolt (ranged attack with knockback), Gale Veil (temporarily boosts evasion), Howling Surge (AoE wind blades dealing moderate damage)]
The panthers were fast and ferocious, but Lina's rock-solid defense and well-timed interrupts neutralized them before they became a threat.
The Howlers, though, were annoying—constantly pelting them with knockback gusts from a distance.
Once, they accidentally aggroed two panthers and a Howler at once.
"I'll take the Howler," Kiriya said without hesitation.
He blurred past the panthers' lunges with a Blink step, closing the gap on the Howler.
A sweeping Phantom Slash arced through the air, its spectral blade striking the Howler mid-cast and canceling its spell.
Meanwhile, Lina exhaled sharply and activated [Frost Domain], a wave of frost spreading outward from her, drastically slowing the panthers and letting her handle their assault with ease.
Soon, the rhythm of battle was completely theirs.
Kiriya cut through threats like a phantom assassin, erasing ranged enemies and exploiting every opening, while Lina stood like an unbreakable wall, pinning the melee mobs in place.
During a brief lull after clearing a pack, Lina wiped her blade and asked casually, "So… earlier. You really hate being in that kind of crowd that much?"
She didn't look at him, but her slightly tilted ears betrayed that she was listening for his reply.
Kiriya was checking the durability of his sword. He froze for a moment, then replied quietly after a pause:
"Not exactly... I'm just not very good at it. And I don't even know what to say."
He hesitated, then added under his breath, "And… they were too close."
Lina knew exactly what he meant—the players crowding in on them earlier… and perhaps the way he himself had grabbed her in the rush to escape.
Her cheeks warmed slightly, but she kept her tone neutral. "…Understandable. Chaotic crowds like that are uncomfortable for anyone." She neatly blamed the closeness on the situation.
The wind whistled through the gorge again, filling the silence.
"But…" Kiriya spoke again, his voice steady, "Thanks for not pulling away."
Lina's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't expected him to bring it up so directly. She gripped her sword a little tighter, her gaze still on the path ahead.
"…It was urgent," she said softly, then added, after a brief pause, "And I knew you meant no harm."
Just two simple sentences, but they were enough to melt the last thin layer of awkwardness between them. Something unspoken—trust, perhaps—flowed quietly between the two.
"Let's keep going." There was a subtle lightness to Kiriya's tone now. "There should be a small mineral vein up ahead—might be Starsteel."
"Mm." Lina nodded, falling in step with him.
As they ventured deeper, their teamwork became seamless—an unspoken language of glances and micro-movements.
Sometimes, Kiriya's combat intuition bordered on uncanny, his strikes landing with perfect timing. And Lina was always there to open the way, to cover a gap, to turn danger into an opening.
After they felled three panthers in flawless unison, Lina glanced at him and said softly:
"Honestly… teaming up with you is very efficient."
Kiriya blinked, then let a small, genuine smile tug at his lips. "I think so too."
The mineral vein he'd spotted lay hidden in a recessed section of the cliffside. Clusters of deep-blue ore glimmered faintly like fragments of a starry sky against the dark rock.
Their target: StarForce Steel Ore.
"This is a decent vein," Lina said after scanning the area for threats. "You mine—I'll keep watch."
Kiriya nodded, pulling a pickaxe from his inventory. Mining required focus, leaving him vulnerable.
Having someone he trusted watching his back made all the difference. He stepped forward, lined up the first strike, and began chipping away at the ore.
Clink… clink… clink…
The crisp sound of metal on stone echoed through the gorge, unnervingly loud in the silence.
Lina stood with her shield slightly raised, eyes sharp, frost energy coiling around her like a warning to anything that might dare approach.
It was a sense of security neither of them could have experienced while traveling alone.
Minutes passed. Thanks to Kiriya's high mining skill, StarForce Steel chunks steadily filled his inventory.
[Obtained: StarForce Steel x1]
[Obtained: StarForce Steelx1]
[Obtained: Hardened Stone x3]…
Just as the vein was about to run dry, Kiriya swung one last time—and something unexpected happened.
Instead of landing in his bag, the final chunk of ore flared with a violent, blinding blue light! Energy churned within it, pulsing like a living thing.
"Kiriya!" Lina's warning was immediate. She tightened her guard and scanned the surroundings, anticipating monsters drawn to the glow.
Kiriya stepped back, sword ready, eyes locked on the radiance.
The light slowly dimmed, converging into the object itself—until it no longer looked like rough ore at all.
Floating before them was a crystal the size of a clenched fist, its surface a deep, cosmic blue.
Within its core, something swirled… like a tiny galaxy. Power radiated from it in gentle yet terrifying waves.
[Obtained: StarForce Steel Core (Unique)]
A Unique-grade drop. Far beyond anything they had expected.
Kiriya carefully reached out, letting the StarForce Steel Core settle into his palm. It was warm, humming faintly with restrained power.
"What is that…?" Lina asked, awe flickering in her eyes. Unique items were vanishingly rare—always carrying potent effects.
Kiriya opened its information panel, his own eyes widening slightly before he shared it with her.
[StarForce Steel Core (Unique): A rare core formed when pure StarForce Steel energy is compressed under extreme conditions.]
[Effect: Functions as a top-tier forging material, significantly boosting base stats and rare-effect activation rate of forged equipment.]
[Special Effect: ??? (Requires Master Blacksmith appraisal or forging to unlock.)]
"A god-tier forging material…" Lina drew a sharp breath. "Looks like your weapon upgrade just got sorted. And it seems there's more to it—some hidden effect."
Kiriya nodded solemnly. This was a massive find, worth far more than ordinary ore. He stored it carefully.
But before they could savor the discovery, an untimely sound broke the stillness—slow, mocking applause from somewhere ahead.
Clap… clap… clap…
"Well, well, impressive!" A man stepped into view from behind a boulder—clad in ornate leather armor, twin jewel-inlaid daggers hanging from his belt.
His smile was all charm, but his eyes were locked on the place Kiriya had just stored the core, brimming with greed.
Behind him, four or five equally well-equipped players emerged, spreading out to form a loose half-circle.
"Not only skilled, but lucky too," the man drawled. His ID read [Roderick]. His grin turned sharp. "A Unique-grade core… don't you think it's a bit wasted on just the two of you?"
In an instant, Lina shifted to stand back-to-back with Kiriya, shield raised, her voice dropping to an icy chill. "What do you want?"
Kiriya said nothing. His hand simply rested on his sword hilt as his hawk-like eyes swept over their gear and positions, silently calculating threat levels. These men had seen the drop—and they wanted it.
"No need to get jumpy, sweetheart." Roderick spread his hands theatrically, though the greed in his gaze never softened. "Our guild, Iron Banner, loves recruiting talented players. We just think that kind of material would shine better in the hands of our guild's master blacksmith. We can pay you for it. A fair price."
It was phrased as a trade, but his tone—and the numbers—made the threat obvious.
"No." Kiriya's refusal was curt, his voice like drawn steel.
Roderick's smile died, replaced by a cold sneer. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Listen, pal, don't make this hard. There are six of us, just two of you. You were hot stuff in the arena earlier, sure—but this isn't the arena. There are no rules out here."
The gorge seemed to fall silent. The wind itself held its breath.
Lina murmured over her shoulder: "One Assassin—Roderick. Two Knights. One Mage. One Archer. One Priest. Balanced party. This might get messy."
"Yeah." Kiriya's mind raced. The narrow terrain limited their mobility. With a healer on the enemy team, a drawn-out fight would be dangerous.
"Guess we're done talking." Roderick's daggers hissed as he drew them, his grin turning feral. "Boys—kill them. And take the core."
The air went taut, ready to snap.
Battle was about to erupt.